The Subtle Betrayal
by XX-Samantha-XX
Summary: An undercover op goes wrong due to another agent, will they save Tony in time and get the guy responsible.
1. Silence

_Disclaimer: character aren't mine as always, I just like to play. _

_Summary: An undercover op goes wrong due to another agent, will they save Tony in time and get the guy responsible. _

_This has been floating around in my head for like two weeks and it's not giving up so here it is. Hope ya'll like the start. I will get the next chapters out of my others soon. _

**The Subtle Betrayal **

**Chapter 1- Silence**

Silence…

…well, not complete, but close enough. No bickering, no telling them to get back to work because they were getting distracted. No distraction at all. Just working, the typing of reports, the ringing of a certain phone not being answered and the longing looks the phone was given. Would it ever be answered again?

_That,_ was the question. The question that couldn't be answered, not now, not when they didn't have any evidence otherwise. Not when Gibbs' own gut was telling him that the thing he dreaded hadn't happened yet. But the twinge told him it was possible, it was close. But he ignored it; he supposed that it was some form of denial, denial of what he wouldn't believe. The belief that one of their own had betrayed them, they were trained federal agents, they weren't meant to become corrupt, to betray one of their own. Why hadn't _he_ seen it?

Because Tony had trusted him, so by default he had to, thinking that anyone Tony trusted couldn't have possibly been crooked. They had even worked together before, in Baltimore, but a lot of things can change in six years. When they met the first time he didn't think that this guy could ever become corrupt, he seemed like the perfect cop, that's what he remembered anyway. That's why when he had become an NCIS agent a couple of months ago everyone saw the perfect cop, a man that could be relied upon.

But now…now he had caused the silence within the bull pen. Now, he was in the wind and their agent, their friend was missing. Gone without a trace, no leads, _nothing_. Just the suffocating silence.

And he felt responsible, guilty even. For not watching his agent's six, for not seeing that the guy was going to blow the undercover op on purpose. But that was the risk they all took with every undercover op, a chance that some one would find out, a chance that they'd be killed, every time they even went to work there was a chance.

Tony was surely out of chances by now…no Gibbs would _not_ lose one of his team, not on his watch. The worry and fear he had felt just a second ago turned to anger and frustration. He shouldn't just be sitting here, waiting for a call, a call that would tell them his agent had been found. The BOLO was already out; it was just a matter of time before the people that had him made a mistake. Wasn't it? But they were professional, they'd killed before, _that_ was why they went undercover in the first place.

Gibbs ignored the questioning looks from McGee and Ziva as he stormed out of the bull pen; he needed coffee, needed to find his damn agent.

Autopsy…

Ducky saw the murderous look in his friend's eye and sighed, he knew that it was to do with the fact of Anthony being missing?...

"Got anything else from the body, Duck?"

"Jethro, there was nothing that I hadn't already found."

"Damn it Duck, there has to be something." Gibbs' anger was waning, he couldn't be angry at his oldest friend, it wasn't his fault. If anything, it was his own and he knew it. Seeing the guilt in Jethro's face Ducky spoke up in a somewhat calming tone.

"It isn't your fault Jethro," Gibbs was about to reply but Ducky stopped him; "you weren't to know that Mark would deceive us."

"But I should have Duck." With that Gibbs turned and left, he needed to get all agents looking for evidence, anything that could lead them to where Tony was.

TBC

_I Know, a short start but it was just to get the idea out there. Stay tuned for more. _


	2. No Flinching

_Thanks for the speedy reviews everyone, now for the next chapter the narrative style changes a little but it will get back to my usual third person style, this just felt more effective__**. **_

**Chapter 2- No Flinching **

_Drip… _

It's only water, it can't hurt you. If anything it's good for you. It keeps you alive.

_Drop…_

No flinching, that means you're scared of water, one of the most natural things on the planet.

_Drip…_

But how many times is it now, how many hours have they been doing this? How many years had they been doing this before you? How many had they killed before you?

_Drop…_

How many more can you stand before you flinch at every drop, every touch?

_Drip…_

You don't know when it's coming, how heavy it will be, will it be one, or two in concession.

_Drop…_

You're a trained federal agent yes but…even they brake at some point. How many more will it take you?

_Drip…_

And it splashes in your eyes, you can't stop it.

_Drop…_

Still no flinching, Gibbs would be mad at you. For breaking, for giving up, for not trusting him to get you out.

_Drip…_

And every time you try to think of something else, it's there. Taunting you, telling you that you can't expect it. No one can, each time it comes at a different time and speed, depending on the weight.

_Drop…_

And the drops fall over your eyes, making it look like tears. But you're not scared…that is what you tell yourself each time the drops fall, each time you try to move but you can't.

_Drip…_

Wasn't there a movie like this once? But the inconsistent drips and drops are breaking your concentration, you can't think of it. Can you?

_Drop…_

How did you get here anyway…oh yeah you former partner, your friend. Who are you going to trust now? Tell us…who?

_Drip…_

You ask us who we are…we are you, can't you see? We are keeping your mind away from the fear. We are your conscience telling you not to give up; we are your team telling you to hang on until we can come for you.

_Drop…_

How many is it now? Tens? Hundreds? More?

_Drip…_

And you're slipping because there is no one there to save you.

_Drop… _

And you flinch because you can't take anymore. What will they do with you now? Will they leave you on the metal table, strapped to it until someone rescues you?

_Drip…_

No, and you know they will be back soon, they'd been watching for the flinch, waiting for it. Needing you to be scared of every touch they would make now. How much longer are they going to leave you there? Are they just doing it because you got caught…no, not caught. Mark told. He betrayed you, didn't he? _Didn't he?_ You didn't see it until it was too late. You failed. You flinched.

_Drop…_

The water doesn't stop but you don't feel it now, you just react, you flinch at every one, every touch. Have they left you here for days? Weeks? Months? You don't even know do you? What will they do now? You will have to wait until they come again.

***

Mark had watched as they strapped his friend down to the cold metal table and he knew that he should feel something, remorse? But he didn't, all he wanted to do was see Tony suffer. He watched as the water drops drip on to his friends face, watched as Tony tried not to flinch, but they all gave up eventually. Tony had lasted the longest so far.

He laughed as Tony flinched, not that Tony would have heard, the flinch meant giving up, meant that his mind was fully on its way to being broken. Now all he had to do was call his new friends back. Then the fun would really begin.

After he had made a run for it, he had made sure that Gibbs wouldn't be able to follow them. Left them no clue, no evidence as to where there friend was. He knew it would kill them not being able to find him. Not that he cared anyway. In two days he would be gone, out of the city and then they would have even less than nothing. They wouldn't be able to interrogate him, wouldn't be able to make him talk.

Walking swiftly out of the dingy room holding Anthony DiNozzo, Mark made his way to his car. It was dark now; nobody would see his pitch black car driving silently down back streets and country roads. They were far out of the city and would stay that way until the position was compromised, even when it was they had back up ones, quite a few actually.

The gravelled pathway crunched beneath him but he wasn't scared of being found, not one bit. A few birds flew out of the tall trees as the crunch tore through the air, though there was still no way of being found. And that is how he wanted it. Tony was never going to be found if he had his way.

TBC

_Hmm I'm not all that sure about this chapter because it's slightly different compared to others of mine so let me know what you think. Hope you enjoyed it. oh and can you guess the torture they are using? Please read and review as always. _


	3. Hope

_Thanks to everyone that reviewed the last two chapters. Here's the next one, hope you all like it. A little warning for Tony whump. (Grins evilly) _

**Chapter 3- Hope **

_About three days later…_

Mark stepped off the small private plane, he was home free now, they would never find him here. He had changed his name and even his appearance a little; they wouldn't recognise him even if they saw him. He laughed a hearty laugh as he strolled through the airport of the destination he had reached.

Shaking off all his nervousness he got into a cab, off to start a new life. That is what the arrangement had been; he got to start a new life if he managed to get them a federal agent. He didn't even feel bad that it had been his ex-partner and current work colleague. Somewhere along the line in his line of work people stopped caring about what they saw and were only out for what they could get for themselves. When he had been younger he had sworn never to become like that, but here it was, he had. And he liked it, wouldn't give up his promised life just to go back to sitting behind some desk in the pretence of helping others.

He'd left without a look back, without remorse, had seen the betrayal clearly in Tony's eyes and still not felt anything. If anything, he just smiled at Tony as they started their next punishment. He wasn't his place to ask what they would eventually do with him, so he didn't; all he knew was that he had gotten what he wanted. What happened to Tony didn't matter.

He found that he wasn't even remotely bothered by the fact that if Tony did actually die because of him then Gibbs would hunt him down and kill him. He'd just stopped caring he supposed.

x-X-x

Hope was all they had, all Tony had too.

Their hope of finding him, his, of escape. So which was more fragile? Theirs or his. Were they the same?

They had nothing to go on, nothing to tell them where he could possible be or, what was being done to him. They needed something. _Anything._ Preferably, _before_ Gibbs killed someone. Days had already passed with no sign of him; the days had turned into almost a full week now. Everyone was tense; they all knew the stats for theses types of things.

The mood in the bull pen had only deteriorated as the week wore on, more longing looks were thrown towards the empty desk of his senior field agent. He'd found Abby asleep on the keyboard of her computer, ponytails askew more than once, in the hope that something she may find would lead them towards where Tony was being held, they were questioning even the who now though. Some Ziva's contacts had heard some chatter about a federal agent being held but knew nothing of the location and had heard that the current people were getting bored and offering to sell their 'asset'.

Gibbs shuddered to think what condition Tony was going to be in when they got him back, and they _were _going to get him back. Weren't they? Gibbs' gut churned, the only reason that kidnappers gave up their victim was if they had already talked or didn't know of anything vital to them and wanted to see that their hard work hadn't gone to waste so offered them to the next person with an interest. Tony being a highly trained federal agent meant he knew a lot of things.

x-X-x

He didn't know how much longer he could stand the punishment delivered to his body, had no idea how long he could keep alive, keep sane, now that he had shown weakness. Didn't even have a clue where he was or how he was going to get out of the straps which stopped _any_ and all movement. At least the water drops had stopped now.

'_How long have they been gone Tony? Are they really gone at all? You don't know do you?' _

'_How long have you been hear now? Why haven't your friends come to get you?' _

Tony ignored the voice that had appeared during the water torture, wasn't the voice a sign of the subconscious trying to help. Well his wasn't being very helpful; if anything it was taunting him with all its questions and sarcastic comments.

He shivered as far as the binds and numb muscles would allow, he'd been lying on the metal table for god knows how long and they had only let him up when he needed the head. He had tried to escape when they removed rope they had tied around him in order to get him to the table. But, it had only ended up with him getting nowhere except a few fractured and bruised bones, mainly his ribs. The next time he had managed to get free was because one of the goons hadn't been watching properly, so he had tried to escape but _that_ had only ended with him being taught his first 'lesson'.

To his dismay he had seen Mark just watching and even smiling as they continued with the punishment. Then mark had disappeared, he hadn't seen him since, that must have been at least a day ago. Not that he had any way to tell how many days had gone by now though. He tried to quell the rising fear within him after remembering part of a conversation last night and the subsequent torture method to get him to talk.

_*Flashback*_

"He's not talking." A somewhat angry voice shouted, obviously trying not to be heard but failing miserably. _Well tough_ he thought, he didn't have anything to say to them

"Well then, we will have to make him talk won't we." A gruff voice sneered.

"B-but even the water torture didn't work and it usually does, the only thing it made him do was flinch." A timid voice broke in.

Before Tony knew what was going on a tall man, about 6 foot towered over him, the dark eyes looking at him with malicious intent clear. Unsheathing a slim knife Tony tried hard not reacting to the sight of the blade. He did flinch ever so slightly that the man didn't notice but Tony knew that the man was going to do what he wanted, that much he could see in the cold eyes. The look almost froze him, struggling to get some leeway on the bonds around his wrists he only managed to strip more skin off his already raw wrists. A swift slap to his face stilled his actions.

"Now, Now, don't fidget, it will only hurt more." The voice was almost caring which worried Tony a little, who the hell was that kind of caring when torturing someone. Enough so that he did actually relax a little.

'_Damn it DiNozzo, you dare let them mess with your head and you'll be answering to me, you got that.' _

Tony almost laughed, almost. Now he really was going loco, with the voice of Gibbs resounding in his head he became alert again. At least this voice helped a little, if only to ground him to the here and now.

Before he had the time to question the sudden caring tone of the man above him, he felt a sharp pain to his right thigh muscle, gasping in pain, the look of joy across the other mans face made him nervous. What the hell was this guy going to do now? He wondered as the initial pain died down. His breathing was still a little ragged but as calm as he could make it.

"Are you going to talk to us now?" the question asked matter-of-factly. Tony merely shook his and smiled as a movie scene popped into his head. Deciding that he couldn't help but joke he spoke.

"You know, this reminds me of lethal weapon two where Riggs gets the knife in his leg." With that the guy above him started twisting the knife within the wound.

Tony refused to scream as pain coursed through his already battered body. Sweat fell from his forehead, stinging the little cuts to his face. Trying to keep his breathing steady was more tiring than he first thought, his energy was draining fast, he'd only been given water to drink so far and a little bread but that had been a day ago.

"We do have others that wish to talk to you Special Agent DiNozzo. And, they have worse methods than you have already experienced."

The thought that there was other people wanting to systematically torture him until he spoke just made him smile more, Gibbs would be proud, he wasn't really doing his job properly if people didn't want to kill him. So he stayed quiet, the man stormed off at the sight of his 100 watt grin.

_*End Flashback*_

The grin had faded somewhat now, now that he wasn't being watched. Of course it had all been an act, to keep him alive longer so Gibbs could come and rescue him. But, why hadn't he already come if Mark was involved he would already know everything. Wouldn't he?

Feeling a little weak and shivery he realised that they hadn't really taken care of the wound he had on his leg, just wrapped it up in a dirty rag. Great he thought it's probably going to get infected now. He grumbled as he was alone again. Being alone in a room full of rotting smells wasn't doing anything for the nausea building within him.

Looking around to what he could actually see gave him little hope. It seemed to be a warehouse of sorts, the sky behind the dusty windows showed it was a dull day. The rain drops falling like little bullets against the metal of the roof. Then he heard it, the dripping, dripping leaking from a hole in the roof into a pan. He groaned, he was really stating to hate the sound of dripping now…

TBC

_Well I hope you all liked that, now that Mark has escaped what shall he do? What shall Gibbs do? Are they ever going to find Tony if he is being moved around? Thanks for reading and please review._


	4. Circular Confusion

_I truly apologise for the mega long wait for this chapter especially, it seems my other fics became important and this got forgotten about. But without further ado, here is the next chapter. _

**Chapter 4- Circular Confusion**

As the last hope of him being found slithered away with the last remains of the light faded, he tried to remember the layout of the circular cell like room that he had been moved to.

He remembered a dark oak chair covered in red velvet, almost luxurious if it weren't for the soft restraints on the legs and arm rests. He'd be kidding himself if the restraints were soft for his benefit, no,_ that_, was purely so the wood didn't get damaged if he tried to escape. He also remembered looming dusty bookcases set into the half of the surrounding wall, shackles clattering softly with the wind which had been whistling through the same barred window as the light had gone out of, on the opposite one.

He knew that these were the type to keep moving their prisoners, what he wouldn't give for simple criminals for a change. The more intelligent ones were always the most dangerous; they _knew_ what they wanted and didn't stop until they got it.

_You really are stuck now. You're probably not even in the same state as you were the last time you were conscious. They won't find you, you know that. Don't you?_

Tony fought the urge to shout out aloud to the voice, telling it to be quiet. While there was no longer any more dripping water drops there was the clattering of metal against stone. It was just as unnerving.

Clammy sweat clung to his skin and his insides seemed to burn slightly. Pain also raced through his leg each time he moved it, infection had really set in now from the feel of it. He tested the restraints but they weren't budging, not one little bit.

A heavy door being slammed open close by shook him out of his thoughts. The man that had entered seemed fuzzy as his vision swirled a little. While being here he had really started to feel like crap and he knew they'd let it go on as long as they wanted.

"Where ar.." Tony had started to ask but the man clamped his hand over Tony's mouth. A vile smell of blood and smoke filled his nostrils and he wished that he could breathe even the stuffy, humid air of the dungeon like room he was trapped in.

Hot, sweaty breath next to his ear caused his blood to run cold, "You will only answer questions here, or you will suffer the consequences." As if to prove that fact, an agonising pain shot through his wounded leg as a hand rubbed something that felt like sandpaper into it.

He refused to scream though. Even the questions he'd been asked were being ignored. He couldn't help these people, just like the others. _You won't find a use for this agent!_ His inner voice screamed childishly through the fog that has engulfed the agent's mind.

_Maybe, the next time he was moved through not being useful was his time to escape_ he thought as his mind faded to grey, then black and the man's deep voice disappeared into the darkness he fell into.

x-X-x

It had now been two weeks since Tony had disappeared on the undercover mission that had gone to hell and there seemed to be less and less evidence to find each time they looked, even if that wasn't strictly possible. Abby had gone through every thing more times than they cared to count, they all had. And still they had nothing.

Gibbs' mood was getting increasingly worse, not even double the number of coffees he would usually have calmed him any. McGee and Ziva had tried all they could to find them. They all knew the deadline for calling it a cold case was getting close but they didn't want to stop.

They had tried tracking down Mark's contacts but to no avail, they had all clammed up or disappeared, unfortunately for the team it was mostly the latter. With no one to talk to and no more evidence to find, the case was going colder quicker than liquid nitrogen could freeze one of Abby's tissue samples.

Heads snapped around when the ringing of Ziva's phone screamed through the silence of the bull-pen. Maybe one of her contact had something tangible, rather than just a suspicion like the last time.

"Officer David!" She answered formally.

The others could only watch as she answered the call. Nothing showed on her face throughout the whole call. Even when she put the phone down nothing broke through the mask she had put in place at work. The rest of the team did not need to see how much this was bugging her.

Gibbs' anger bubbled within, he couldn't see how Ziva seemed to be holding it all together but then had noticed that she seemed only to talk in one tone recently. Maybe she was just shutting herself off from it all. Being distracted by his thoughts he almost missed the slight smile that graced her lips for the first time in two weeks.

"One of my contacts has co-ordinates of where they are holding what they believe to be a federal Agent."

That was all they needed to move. They thundered out like a storm towards what was hopefully where their friend was.

x-X-x

_At the co-ordinates, somewhere outside of D.C. _

The sun was setting gloomily as the NCIS issue car screeched to a halt outside of what looked like an old abandoned warehouse. The team jumped out quickly and quietly, hoping that they hadn't made too much noise while arriving.

Gravel crunched under their feet as they made their way to the dilapidated building. Windows were either cracked or shattered completely .Upon entering all that could be seen was the shine of a metal table in the centre of the room which seemed clean? A stark contrast to the outside. And what was that they could smell?

Bleach

"Damn it!" Gibbs cursed.

They'd hoped that Ziva's contact had been right. Gibbs glared at Ziva; she looked dangerously back at him. It wasn't _her_ fault that they seemed to be gone now.

"I thought you said your contacts could be trusted, Ziva."

"They can." She stated simply back.

"Then where the hell is my Agent!" Gibbs shouted, getting into her face. Tempers were frayed and had only been made worse at this latest what seemed to be a dead end.

Before she could respond she was interrupted by McGee.

"Gibbs, I've found something." He spoke up, diffusing the tension that had been created in such a short amount of time, as he pointed to what looked like a smudge of red on the edge of the table. Hopefully if that had been missed that, then other evidence would have been missed to. They could only hope that this place held some evidence to do with Tony and wasn't a waste of time that they could have been using more constructively.

"Good Job, McGee." Gibbs responded in a slightly happier tone than had been previously heard.

If Tony _had_ been here, they would have new evidence and could continue with the case. Also, it could bring them one step closer to actually finding him. With that in mind they set about looking for more evidence…

_TBC…_

_Will they find enough evidence? Will they find Tony? Stay tuned. Sorry about the wait. _


	5. Lucidity Is Such A Fragile Thing

_I was actually quite amazed at the responses for this story considering I hadn't posted for it in a while so that you all for you input and especially __**HuluView**__ who made a suggestion that I just couldn't seem work out for the last chapter. With out further ado, here is the next chapter…hope you all enjoy a bit of Tony whumping…_

**Chapter 5 –Lucidity Is Such A Fragile Thing**

The next time Tony was semi aware of anything he was being moved yet again but this time, it wasn't to a different location. If he'd been lucid enough he may have tried to escape. However, unfortunately for him, he wasn't. On the one had he was convinced that his body with set on melting all his internal organs which, even in his dire situation, made him giggle? On the other hand his muscles refused to work for the short amount of space he'd been dragged to the shackles on the wall, which caused the guy dragging him to be rougher than Tony hoped he would be; not that he could have argued with the guy anyway.

They had taken to gagging him after the last round of questions. Apparently he spoke far too much for his own good about the wrong things. He laughed at that too, him, Tony DiNozzo, talking too much? If he was remembering correctly, he'd even said that to them and then added an extra special sarcastic drawn out _nooo_; just to see what would happen. Turns out they gagged him for it, well, it could have been worse.

Though, it wasn't like he knew what they wanted anyway. That part they hadn't really asked him yet. Or if they had, he didn't remember. A shiver ran along Tony's spine as burning hot flesh touch the cold stone and for the amount of moments that the stone absorbed some of his excess heat he felt a little better. _Hang on, he thought, where had his shirt gone?_ His headache subsided as his head lolled against the harsh stone but it was soon ramped up again as the door slammed open and a question shouted at him. He barely understood the question so opted for the smartarse answer.

"Go to hell."

His speech was slightly slurred but he really didn't care at the moment. Also, just to piss the guy off more he smiled smugly, as much as he could around the gag, at the dark clothed man. The energy he'd had upon waking up dissipated, and he slipped unconscious once again.

He knew what was coming next; it had been in countless films. The dirt bags never let you sleep; if you did well… you soon learnt the consequences. However, that didn't stop his vision turning ice white nor stop him gasping and fighting for breath, or his muscles screaming in agony as what felt like gallons of water was poured all over him.

Spluttering out all the inhaled water Tony sagged on shackles, only causing more damage to his already damaged body. He didn't think there was anything left that didn't hurt.

Looking up towards the man who had been standing there silently, Tony couldn't hide a gasp when the man's eyes seemed to glow red….surely that was just the fever…not being sure, Tony shook his head to try and clear it. Wincing he found it to be a bad idea as his headache spiked again. Breathing a deep as he could through the gag he got most of the pain under control.

The man with the glowing red eyes seemed to hover at Tony's eyes level, which was at least a foot higher than usual due to the shackles suspending his quickly tiring muscles, it felt as if the tendons would snap with the amount of almost dead weight pulling them down.

Tony head drooped downwards, towards when the dark haired man's hand hovered over the angry red wound in his leg. Great, his pants were well and truly ruined now; one leg had been cut away so that the wound was open for all to see. The skin round the wound seemed unusually pale as he imagined the rest of him did considering his usual skin tone. Through his blurred vision he could also make out slight blotching almost like a rash around the wound. _Crap._ It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what that meant. Tony could hear the smile in the man's cold voice as he spoke next.

"Well, it would seem that you won't live very much longer." He stopped, as if waiting for an answer, knowing the agent couldn't speak he continued. "You feel like answering questions now?" The man sneered.

For all Tony's guts he was actually a little scared that he might die…without getting the last word in, he laughed inwardly and was taken aback when the gag was rudely ripped off his face. Immediately he tried to rid the stale, bloody taste out of his mouth by spitting it out on the man's shoes. His inner voice shouted cheerfully _'Take that sucker'_ as his actual voice seemed to have stopped working for now. He honestly couldn't seem to help himself today, he knew it would get him in trouble so expected a swift kick to his injured leg. He felt a trickle of liquid leak from the wound but what it was he wasn't sure as his vision darkened on him again.

Not even a bucket full of ice cold water could wake the deteriorating agent up now…

x-X-x

Mark relaxed on the porch of his new beach house, the sun slowly sank into the horizon, and a soft breeze ruffled his hair. This was the life that he'd dreamed of ever since he'd gotten involved with _those_ people. They would get the job done. Get rid of anyone who could destroy what he'd gained. And he wasn't afraid of what or who they killed for him to have it.

A phone call suddenly disturbed his peace.

"Hello." He answered tersely, he wasn't meant to be contacted. At all!

_That,_ would only increase the risk of him being found. Maybe he shouldn't have kept the cell phone with him after all.

"Boss, he's not talking." Damn it he cursed. It wasn't meant to be this hard to get information out of someone he thought had been weak minded. I mean the guy was a play-boy for god sake!

"Fine! Go to the next stage." He almost hung the phone up but the man responded promptly.

"We can't, he won't survive this one."

"What!" Mark was furious; he needed information from DiNozzo so he would be able to keep this new comfortable life style. Mark ignored the excuses of the man on the phone and shouted his final order.

"Well then, fix it! And only call back when you have what I want!"

Without another word he snapped the cell shut and retuned to look over at the darkening sky, wondering what activity he could partake in tomorrow.

TBC

_Well that chapter went a different way than originally planned but I hope you all like it, poor, poor confused Tony, he doesn't even know that Mark seems to be more than in on it or what they want from him. Thanks for reading and please review! Sorry for any mistakes as it is 2am and i really should be in bed haha. _


	6. Desperation

_Sorry about the wait for this again but here we go, enjoy. _

**Chapter 6 **

Something was wrong.

He could feel it, feel it twisting through his gut and even seeping into his bones.

He'd normally pace but he couldn't give the rest of the team the impression that _he_ was nervous. He was Gibbs and well…Gibbs never showed what he was feeling, not if it would damage the team's hope. They needed that, especially now.

The only thing they had found in the warehouse had been blood, Tony's blood as a matter of fact.

Nothing else had been found, bar the bleach that still seemed to cling to his senses like a dog gnawed at a bone and the usual things like dust, broken glass. _Exactly,_ what you'd expect to find in an abandoned building.

It was as if Tony and the people who had him hadn't even been there. Just one little drop of blood that stood out in his minds eye like spotting a rescuer in the dark, except they couldn't even do that for Tony. Not as long as they had nothing.

The small hope that had danced in all their eyes a few days ago after finding out about the warehouse had now vanished, and Gibbs hated seeing his team so deflated. He almost wanted to be angry at Tony for putting them all in that position, for putting_ him_ in that position but knew that it wasn't fair on Tony.

He hadn't meant nor expected an old friend to turn on him and Gibbs knew that when Tony got a chance to think fully about it, _if_ he got the chance his mind reminded him, then he'd have to do some damage control, if only so that Tony wouldn't hurt himself in the process. No one crossed Tony. He'd been witness to that himself and it wasn't somewhere he'd like to go again.

Feeling eyes on him Gibbs' train of thought stopped and he looked around; both McGee and Ziva were looking at him, concern written on their faces. He glared before he said something he might regret and they both got back to work.

They were all disturbed when Gibbs' cell breeched the silence.

"Gibbs."

At first no one answered and Gibbs was tempted to just throw the phone across the bull pen. But then he heard something that he didn't think he'd hear, it wasn't possible.

"Boss." However something in the voice worried Gibbs, it was tired, strained even.

"Tony, how did you…" Two heads looked across at him and McGee started immediately tracing the call at Gibbs' nod.

"Not important right now…" The voice seemed to fade away. Gibbs was on his feet and pacing, it didn't matter who saw him now. They could get a lead if Tony stayed on the phone long enough.

"Tony, where are you?" When Gibbs heard only breathing on the other side of the line his gut clenched. There _was_ something wrong and Gibbs wasn't close enough to do anything about it.

"I can't…." Can't, _can't what_ Gibbs wondered as the breathing seemed to become more forced. Maybe Tony just didn't know what he was saying. "I don't know."

_Damn_.

Tracing phones could only go so far, to within a few blocks, maybe hundred meters _if_ you were lucky.

"We will find you, you got that Tony." Gibbs put all his confidence in his voice making sure Tony knew that he was coming and hoped that he was able to do just that. Tony didn't need anyone else lying to him right now.

When he didn't get a response for over a minute he wondered whether the whole call had been a figment of his imagination.

He only caught on to what had happened when McGee cursed and he heard the dial tone in his ear.

They'd lost him again.

"Did we get anything?" Gibbs asked while setting his cell down. He couldn't break it if it was his only link to his agent. What if Tony tried again, but then, what if he couldn't and that was why the line had disconnected.

As it turned out, they weren't that lucky.

"Not much, Boss." McGee stated simply.

Gibbs' anger boiled. "Not much? What do you mean not much?" McGee paled a little but answered.

"We've got a general location, but other than that, nothing."

"How general are we talking, McGee."

"Somewhere in West Virginia."

Gibbs didn't even bother stopping the curse that followed that statement.

It wasn't nearly enough.

West Virginia was huge; it was hard enough trying to find a wayward agent in their own city. They didn't stand a chance, not finding just one person.

"Alright," Gibbs sighed, "inform the local PD and fax them Tony's picture."

Oh, they could try, but in the end they didn't even know who had Tony now or even if anyone did.

If Tony had been calling from a phone or cell then he must have got away.

_Right? _

The whole thing hadn't been a hallucination born from desperation.

_Had it? _

A sudden image of Tony walking, alone and injured in the darkness popped up in his mind, with nobody to help him and it damn near killed him that he couldn't follow one of his own moral values.

_Never leave a man behind. _

_TBC _

_I know that it's another short chapter but I will try to get more out soon. I do have an idea or two popping up for this and another so it shouldn't be too long. _


	7. Alone

**Chapter 7**

"_We will find you, you got that, Tony."_

_We will find you. _

Four simple words that kept the struggling Agent going, kept him moving away from them people.

Gave him a minute spark of hope.

Whether that flicker of hope would actually outlast the agent however, was unknown, but possible in the Agent's current condition.

Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo's time was running short, and he knew it. His muscles screaming along with his head, telling him to let them rest, let them stop. But he also knew that to stop would be tantamount to ending his life that much sooner.

Except, the stern assurance the last voice he had heard held, kept his wavering limbs filled with the last of his adrenalin. Something that had given out on him when he had fallen, breaking the cell he had managed to get hold of in the process, as he'd been talking to Gibbs.

Limping onwards, Tony took a brief look at his newly wrapped leg wound. They had come back at some point and given him the medicine that had seemed to have stopped the infection that had been brewing for now. All he remembered from that was a strange cacophony of sounds, mashing together, making no sense in his fevered mind.

Pain shot up his leg, nerves setting alight all the way through his body, as he stepped off a slight rocky ledge. Breathing through it he winced as his ribs protested against the calming breaths, and the skin on his back seemed to stretch around circular burns which he had recently acquired.

He giggled a little at the fact that acquired seemed to insinuate that he was happy about it…he really was going mad now.

Rustling behind him forced him into high alert, crouching down he looked around him. Trees loomed tall in the darkness but the moon gave him some light to work with. Shadows seemed to wisp between the trees but no more sounds bar the usual animals could be heard. That, and the slightly unusual speed of his own heartbeat.

He continued cautiously, not wanting to have been followed. Especially after the threat he'd been given if he were to escape. He really didn't like the sound of being cut up into little tiny pieces, even if it was just a threat to stop him trying to escape. He'd figured out that they wanted him alive when they'd stopped the infection festering within him. That, however, would not stop them from doing more damage if they did catch up to him.

Noticing that he was on somewhat of a barely trodden foot path, he decided that staying just to the side of it was best. He didn't want to run the risk of the bad guys thinking he'd be stupid enough to actually follow one, but nor did he want to be too far away from something that could lead him back to civilisation. Back home.

So, the weary Agent continued on his journey, twigs snapping underfoot; and living solely on the conviction his Boss' voice had held.

And wondering why in the world he'd been left in this position. Mark was to suppose to have had his back; his mind flickered back to the place where water seem in abundance and thought he saw him standing, watching them slowly try to break him and his spirit.

But why? Why would he be there if Mark hadn't been in on it…

His thoughts stopped like a crashing train; almost falling over himself he had to take a moment to compose himself.

Anger rose up within him at the prospect that Mark had been in on it all along, and he hadn't seen it coming. It left him with a distinct cold feeling towards the man. What were his motives? Money? Power? There was always something.

The betrayal cut him deeply enough to make him want to scream at it. He couldn't however, it may draw unwanted attention.

_Are you sure you didn't know. I mean, really? _

Tony truly did want to say that he hadn't, but as soon as they had entered where ever they had gone, that little detail seemed to have left his mind completely until now; probably something to do with the torture and repeated questions that he couldn't answer over the days following that one. He _hadn't_ fully trusted Mark from a twinkle in his eye but their years of friendship, Tony had hoped, were enough for him not to have put Tony where he was now.

_Well at least you only put yourself in danger. Right? The team weren't in danger too were they? _

God, he hoped not. Gibbs would head-slap him into oblivion if they were. With his new found strength from depleted reserves, Tony, somehow, increased his pace, hoping that someone friendly would be walking the barely trodden path.

He needed to know if his team were safe…

x-X-x

Mark was furious, all they'd had to do was watch the Agent and gather any information they could about what Tony knew. He'd already made unnecessary, in his mind anyway, adjustments to his perfect plan.

Well, it _had_ been perfect until the people who he'd left in control had messed it all up. If it wasn't for them then he'd still be sitting on the beach in the sun, not heading back to West Virginia where the holding place had been to clean up their mess.

He knew that Gibbs would have caught on to what happened, so any help they may have given him was now out of the window. But that didn't mean that he wouldn't be able to use the team to get what he wanted. Though it wasn't time for that yet.

He'd planned it for years, the friendship with Tony had been real to start with, but when Tony had transferred he felt like he'd been betrayed and didn't see any problem in getting pay back for it. He'd used Tony's friendship to get into NCIS where they had information on more, high end cases, and ones where you could get more money out of it, _if_ you were careful enough.

He placed his seat belt across his waist as the light came on, signalling that they were about to land. He knew coming back was risky but he hadn't been able to contact anyone since they had told him that his 'friend' was now well enough to be questioned again. And that worried him.

He laughed however, at the fact that he would be much closer to DiNozzo than Gibbs was and knew that it would be killing the marine in Gibbs….

TBC

_Well, Tony is alive for now but who is closer to finding him now that he has escaped wherever he was…you will all have to wait and see MUWAHAHA. Please review!_


	8. Determination

_Now, I know it's been a while and I'm sorry for the wait but here is the chapter and i hope you enjoy it. Poor Tony is having a bad time of it though hehe_

**Chapter 8**

Walking had become a tiring task, hell simply standing upright was draining what little strength he had, but he needed to continue on, to make sure that Mark hadn't got to his team. He'd spent the night stumbling through what seemed like an endless forest, the low braches whipping his face and chest as they brushed past, he'd quite literally fallen off the path a good few hours ago.

Rolling down into a small river hadn't been his best move of the night and one that had left him shivering, but at least he was vaguely clean now. After pulling himself up with a new collection of scrapes and bruises, he continued on. Determination the only thing keeping him going.

Now, hours later his eye lids sagged in exhaustion and he meandered further through the looming trees, no direction in mind but getting back to D.C.

Except, he didn't exactly know which direction he was going in, or which state he was even in.

While he'd been thinking he hadn't realised that the ground beneath his bare feet had flattened out until a sharp pain shot through his foot and upwards towards his brain. Looking down he questioned whether or not the gravelled path was real and not a figment of his imagination.

But looking down then suddenly around to see where he was turned out to be a mistake, the fast movement coupled with hunger, thirst and exhaustion took him down like a stone.

Only dulled sounds made it through the haze of his mind, a bright light shone through for a moment and blurred figures moved between him and the light, the his vision darkened and he slipped blissfully into nothing.

The last few feelings he had was one of movement and that he'd failed his team because he wasn't strong enough...

x-X-x

Mark stomped into the facility where Tony had been held and had to cover his mouth at the destruction that stared back at him.

Equipment, paper and boxes filled with medicines were strewn about, blood splattering all of them. The people he had hired lay dead at his feet, eyes staring and boring through him.

Mark cursed and walked away, leaving the mess behind, hoping that none of it could be linked to him. He dialled his phone and made a very important phone call, one that would get him Tony back easily.

Knowing that there would already be an APB out for Tony he just updated the one that was already out. Sniggering to himself he made his way to the local police department or sheriff's office, waiting for the person in question to be delivered to him. Well, he hoped it would anyway.

x-X-x

"Boss, we just got word of the APB out on Tony being changed." McGee called out through the silence that had descended upon them in the early hours of the morning.

"What, where?"

"Pendleton County Sheriff's Office, West Virginia."

Finally, they had a place to start. They all rushed around their desks and were out of the bullpen with a flash. Gibbs was also on the phone trying to find out who had changed the APB on his Agent and getting it changed back to missing Agent rather than wanted fugitive.

However, they had a feeling that it was Mark and it only left them feeling that maybe Mark was closer to their friend than they were and they hated it.

They needed to get there first, no matter what.

No matter the speed Gibbs' devil like driving could go, they were still miles away and it would take the better part of a couple of tension filled hours to get there.

x-X-x

The next time Tony woke up, he found himself in a warm haze of dulled pain and strange surroundings.

Forcing his eyes open wider the light that shone back at him had him squeezing them tightly shut again. Testing his muscles he shifted around a little on what felt like clouds, fibres awakened and his muscles stiffened as hard as stone, every small movement sent lightning bolts of pain throughout his entire body.

Forcing himself up anyway he wandered around his new room. It was sparsely but warmly decorated, the bed he had previously been sleeping on was the centre piece of the room, and simple desk was pushed up under the window to the left of the bed, a jug and a glass of water on the edge of the desk.

The window, he noticed, was also open and on the same level as the ground.

Perfect.

Rallying all the energy he could and hoping that the occupants of the house were asleep; he took a long drink of the refreshing water, dressed in the clothing that had been left out and climbed out of the window. Though not before writing a small note for the people that had obviously redressed his wounds and gave him somewhere to sleep for the remainder of the night, on a note pad that had also been left in one of the draws of the desk.

Turning back for a moment at the house he tried to memorize it so he could come back and thank them properly later on. He needed to make sure his team was safe first, anything else could come later.

Finding open fields he begun to walk again, his muscles protested but he ignored the pain in them and in his leg, and this time, that he was at least a little closer to civilisation.

He would find his way to the nearest police department as that was his best bet for people who could actually help him. Though first if he were to come across a phone box he would let Gibbs know that he was still alive and to make sure the team were safe.

However, what he didn't know was that the police station he was heading for held the person he really didn't want to see at the moment...

_TBC_

_Hehe what am i like to our poor Tony and who is going to get where first, either way lol enjoy... and please review._


	9. Chance

_Well, it looks like this story is wrapping up as well, it only has about two chapters after this one, thanks to everyone for reading and sticking with it and a few other of my stories especially considering the amount of time between some chapters. Anyway, on with the story and enjoy..._

**Chapter 9**

It was only when he was a fair way away from the house he had been taken to, that he realised he should have at least tried to find a phone or something there, where he'd been relatively safe. But then hindsight was always twenty-twenty. Tony could just hear Gibbs' voice in his head agreeing with him on how stupid he had been.

But there was no time for could of and should of right now, he needed to contact his team and warn them that Mark would try everything to make sure there was no witnesses to anything that had transpired.

The fresh shirt started to cling to his body as the temperature rose along with the sun upwards to what looked like mid-day; he may not be a boy scout like McGee, but he knew where the sun generally was at certain times of day. He smiled despite the fact that he didn't know where he was heading; at least the ground was relatively flat and didn't hold any hidden sharp items or pot holes.

About an hour later, with no clouds in sight, his throat drying up, and nothing but fields or trees for the next mile he changed his direction slightly and headed towards trees hoping that where there was more of them then the more chance he had of finding water.

The sun was relentless as it beat upon his back, as were the pains in his body and the sickly feeling in his stomach. It really wasn't his day today and a few times he had questioned whether he should just go back to the house he'd been in, at least there he had water but he needed to contact Gibbs and get back to civilisation, he'd been out of the loop for...wait how long had it been? _Grea_t he muttered under his breath, he didn't even know what day it was.

An ever so slight trickling sound caught his interest and he honed all his senses into finding where it was coming from. After standing still for a moment or two he surmised that it was coming from a north westerly direction where a bunch of trees had gathered. _Sure because trees can gather_ _like people_, he laughed. Not taking any notice of his footing when the ground dipped slightly his bad leg took most of his weight and almost buckled underneath him, that was when he noticed that it had started to throb more and more we each step he had taken that morning and afternoon. He cursed and recognized the symptoms that meant the infection in his leg had flared up again through a lack of antibiotics.

Focusing on why he was where he was, he remembered the water he thought he'd heard. It only took a few minutes to locate it; a gentle stream of water fell between two trees and rippled over rocks of differing sizes. He winced at the pain that shot through his leg and the rest of his body as he bent down to quench his thirst for now. He really needed to find someone soon so he could contact his team.

It took another hour or so, wandering through a sparse forest and haze, but he made it to an actual road. He breathed a sigh of relief; now all he had to do was wait for a car to go past and hope that the people were friendly and would help him. It might not have been the greatest idea as Mark had said there was more than one group interested in him but it was the only option open to him at the moment. That and he doubted he had the energy to do anything else.

x-X-x

After arriving at the police station, Mark, with his new identity sat relaxing behind a desk waiting for Tony to be found. Nobody in this out of the was police department suspected a thing, he laughed, well he had made himself look different even if there was a BOLO out on him.

The staff had been happy to accommodate him; after all he was looking for a wanted fugitive.

What Gibbs didn't know, however, was that he had suggested that federal agents were helping Tony out so that if Gibbs and the rest were to turn up that he was to be told immediately.

x-X-x

It was by chance that he saw them.

It just so happened that he was looking out of the window that he saw one of the agency cars and politely asked the person that had helped him if they could stop so he could get out.

When he had been found, Tony had immediately asked the lady that had pulled over if she had a phone but it had turned out that her phone was dead. Tony had thought his luck would continue like that so had decided to get a bit of shut eye, they'd hit a small bump which had woke him up and he'd looked around and saw the car at the gas station.

Maybe, the world decided that he deserved at least a little good luck. Whichever he had assured the kind person who had helped him that they were his friends even though he'd not seen one of them yet, she lingered for a bit to make sure he was be okay so now here he was.

Staring at the car and wondering if this was the best idea, he hadn't seen them yet but his gut was telling him it was them. It had to be, right?

He hesitated, which seemed strange as a minute ago he was determined to find them but he'd had time to think through everything fully while resting. What if they thought he was working with Mark?

Well, may as well find out.

x-X-x

Gibbs had been annoyed when they'd needed to stop for gas along the way, but in a way relieved, the atmosphere in the car had been stuffy in the afternoon heat and both Tm and Ziva were getting restless being cooped up in a car for hours. They were tense, worried and ready to kill each other by the time they had stopped.

Seen as they were near their destination anyway, Gibbs decided to show the person behind the cash register a picture of Tony to see if he'd been seen in the area recently.

The man glared. "Haven't you people already been here asking the same thing?"

"We aren't the local police." Gibbs stated simply. The man merely shrugged it off, accepted the money Gibbs gave him and returned the change.

Gibbs stormed out and hoped that Ziva and McGee had finished asking other people in the shop if they'd seen Tony.

Turns out, they had, but they'd received the same response as Gibbs. Shaking their heads at the attitude of the people they had met, they returned to the car, not taking any notice of the surroundings

"Lost something?" A familiar voice asked Gibbs.

Gibbs, Ziva and McGee were startled and Gibbs had to look twice at the man stood by their car.

The man looking at them was dirty and looked exhausted but the smile on his face was all they needed to know who it was.

"Tony."

TBC

_Hehe, yay they found Tony...well Tony found them, but what is going to happen now when they get to the police station? How will this all end? Will they convince Tony to seek medical help before they find Mark? Find out in the next chapter..._


	10. Don't Make Me Do It

_Well, everyone was wondering if Mark would get what was coming to him...you kind of find out in this chapter...thanks for reading everyone and reviewing, there is one remaining chapter to tie everything up after this one. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 10**

_The man looking at them was dirty and looked exhausted but the smile on his face was all they needed to know who it was._

"_Tony."_

It took a moment for the shock to clear, and then Gibbs really looked at his Agent. Beneath the smile was weariness, suspicion and maybe even a little fear. Confusion rose within him for a moment until he realised the situation, Tony thought that Gibbs thought that he'd been working with Mark. He wondered sometimes why Tony's mind jumped to illogical conclusions but given the situation he'd let that issue go for now.

While he'd been thinking though, Tony's strength had been draining away and he swayed forward, Gibbs reacted immediately and grabbed Tony by the shoulders.

"I've got you, Tony." Gibbs could feel the tension leave his Agent at his words and saw that Tony was trying to rally up enough energy for what he obviously wanted to do.

"I'm good, Boss." Tony was relieved, as least the team didn't think he had betrayed them all; Mark could have made them believe anything he wanted given the chance. He was so tired but he needed to see this through, he needed to know why Mark had done what he had.

"The hell you are, DiNozzo, you're burning up." Gibbs could feel the heat radiating off his Agent even without placing a hand on the younger man's forehead.

Tony's eyes bore into him, pleading, unwilling to give up but a little cloudy.

"I need to do this, Boss." Gibbs didn't doubt that in the slightest, in fact he was proud of the younger Agent for his resilience to continue even though it meant taking down his partner and old friend.

"You don't have to do this alone." Tony brightened at Gibbs acceptance but stopped at the next part. "You pass out on the way and I'll drag your ass to the hospital myself."

"Gotcha, Boss." Gibbs moved towards the driver's seat and Tony to the passenger, leaving their other teammates to stare on in wonder for the moment that it took them to realise that they were going to be left behind. They both moved quickly into back seats of the car and strapped themselves in, preparing for a rough ride.

It didn't take that much longer to arrive at the police station, but Gibbs was seriously questioning Tony coming along for this ride. Tony hadn't passed out but the energy the younger man had had when they had told him they knew where Mark was had dissipated and his eyes were drooping.

"Gibbs, shouldn't we at least call Ducky?" McGee pondered out loud.

Gibbs had wondered the same thing, but Tony had already sent him his version of a death glare at the suggestion.

Now, however, Tony hadn't even responded to McGee's comment, he looked over to his senior Agent and really saw how pale he was, he wondered what Tony was hiding beneath the dirty clothes. He was just about to reach for his phone when Tony cut him off.

"Don't even think about it." His tone was stern and giving no room for questions and Gibbs found himself listening against his better judgement.

The rest of the journey was made in silence. The junior agents in the back understanding their friend's need to see this through, but also hoping that it wouldn't cost their friend his life.

x-X-x

Arriving at Pendleton County Sheriff's Office wasn't a quiet affair; one officer snuck off towards a room to the back of the building, others glared at the team of NCIS Agents as if they were the bad guys.

Then a commotion was heard in the room where the man had scuttled off to; a stranger seemed to watch from the window. But Tony recognised the eyes and the disguise, there was no doubt about it, it was Mark.

As soon as Mark noticed that he had been made by his old friend; he ran, but not before telling the officers in the room to arrest the NCIS Agents.

A fight ensued.

As Tony followed Mark he swore he saw McGee go down, enraged, he followed Mark through the station and out towards the fields they had previously drove past. All weariness forgotten and replaced with a new burst of energy.

The pursuit continued for a few moments until Mark slowed. A cool breeze swept through the field, signalling that the darkness was creeping upon them.

"Stop!" Tony shouted across the gap between them, the energy that had returned was slowly dimming yet again, Tony grumbled at the weakness in his body.

Surprisingly, Mark stilled and started to turn towards the sound.

"How did you know?" Mark asked, looking towards Tony with glee at his condition, he might actually be able to get rid of this pain in the ass without even trying, Mark smiled darkly. All he had to do was stall.

"It's not the first time you've changed your appearance, I did use to be your partner, remember." Tony couldn't decide whether to shout or talk it out so he settled for something in between.

"HA! Some partner." Mark had the audacity to look betrayed.

With a Shaking hand, Tony raised his gun to his former partner who was standing mere feet away; his voice spoke of the confusion, regret, and anger he felt.

"Don't make me do it." Tony himself was surprised that it didn't come out as pleading as he thought it would.

Even after all that had happened between the torture and betrayal, Tony couldn't just throw away the years they had been the best of friends, almost akin to brothers. Like partners should be. He should, at least, give him a chance to explain.

"You wouldn't, you never could." Mark looked straight at his 'friend' and smirked, raised his own secret gun, only to hesitate as Tony spoke up again.

"Don't." The statement was simple. Don't be stupid enough to threaten a federal agent because they were trained to protect themselves, if they thought their life was in danger, without a shadow of a doubt, shoot to kill.

Tony had never wanted this moment to have come but then it was him that they were talking about, he always managed to get the worst luck or was constantly getting in trouble. He almost laughed at the sheer amount of bad luck he got.

Almost.

It had stopped being funny when it had started getting the people he cared about hurt. When he saw Mark's aim shift is when he asked one final question.

"Why?"

But Mark didn't answer, didn't even think twice about what he was doing, he simply raised his weapon fully towards Tony, who had closed his eyes knowing what was to come.

One shot rang out and echoed sharply across the silent field they'd been standing on…

_TBC _

_Ahhh Tony, I ought to lock you up to keep you safe from youself lol…I didn't leave you on a bad cliff hanger….did I? Sorry but I needed to do it, the next chapter will be out soon though so don't fret. _


	11. You can let go now

_Sor__ry this is a little later than I told some of you lovely readers, I've not been at home much never mind near a computer but alas, here is the final chapter, enjoy!_

**Chapter 11**

When the dust and fight had settled Gibbs' team, a little bruised and bloody, had come out victorious. McGee's arm had been clipped a little by a bullet but the damage was minimal, Ziva and Gibbs had a few cuts and bruises but again the damage was small. The other people however, were either handcuffed or unconscious on the floor.

Gibbs' gut twisted harshly inside him and he ordered his other two team members to stay put until back up arrived; he was going to find his Agent.

The air had cooled somewhat since Gibbs had last been outside, and the light they'd had was almost completely gone, he needed to find his Agent sooner rather than later. It wasn't that he didn't think that Tony didn't have the will power to survive the night, it was just that sometimes the human body refused to listen no matter how much will you had.

Searching around for some sign of his Agent he realised that it was far too quiet. Had he been too late? Had he let his Agent get into a situation that he wasn't up for without backup just because said Agent had said he needed to do it?

Gibbs dropped his head for a moment, uncertain if he had done the right thing. Hating the weakness his blazing blue eyes searched the horizon for anything that indicated where his Agent might be. When asked later why he started walking in a certain direction he would tell them he saw a shadow but really it had been his own gut feeling that Tony was that way.

The further he got the more worried he became; surely Tony would be coming back now if everything had gone right. It didn't take too much longer to find his wayward Agent but the moment he did he knew that Tony would need at least a little help with what had happened recently.

A silhouette stopped Gibbs in his tracks; he could barely make out the persons features with the dark encroaching and the fact that the person was faced away from him.

He tried to call out to the man in front of him but received no response, the man just remained in the position he was in. Gibbs moved slightly outwards only to see that the still man was holding a gun. Immediately on alert, even if it was his Agent standing there, Gibbs had his weapon out and pointed down to the ground, ready to bring it up at a moment's notice.

"Why'd he do it, Gibbs?" Gibbs was surprised that Tony seemed to know that he was there given his Agent's state.

Tony was staring through Gibbs, who had moved into Tony's line of sight, though not too close to where Tony still aimed his gun. Following the line of the gun, he found that Tony was still aiming it in the direction of where Gibbs supposed Mark might have been standing before being taken down.

Mark was lying dead about three meters away from his Agent, it had only taken one shot by the looks of it.

But then why was Tony still holding the gun towards his fallen ex-partner.

"Tony? You can put the gun down now." Gibbs didn't like that Tony seemed to ignore his request.

Tony simply stood there, looking dead to the world, mind spinning, needing someone to stop him.

Then Gibbs understood it, if Tony put the gun down it would be over, there was nothing else to do, and Tony would be faced with the fact that his own partner had betrayed him and had him tortured and by the sounds of it he hadn't even been given an answer at the end of it all, he'd been forced to kill someone he'd known for years.

Gibbs moved closer to his Agent slowly, not wanting to spook Tony who rippled with tension.

Warm hands wrapped themselves around Tony's wrists and a calming voice made its way through the haze in his mind.

"You can let go now."

Tony's mind was racing, trying to think why Gibbs would say something like that and in that tone.

Then it caught up with his body and he realised that he was still holding his gun. His grip wavered a little while he was trying to figure out what had just happened but then steadied when he remembered why he was out here. Mark.

"It's over, Tony, let go."

What was over? It took another moment to realise what Gibbs was talking about, then he looked a few meters ahead and remembered what he'd needed to do.

Tony seemed to sag as his mind caught up with his surroundings. "Why?"

Gibbs was ready to catch Tony when he would succumb to his exhaustion but it didn't look like that was about to happen this moment so he answered Tony's question.

"Money, we found a least a year's worth of emails and transactions to and from black market dealers. He was selling weapons, information, even people to whoever wanted them."

"Why didn't I see it?" But Gibbs heard the underling fear that Tony thought he had screwed up.

"You stop that now. Nobody saw it coming; background checks didn't even reveal anything out of the ordinary."

Tony lowered his weapon and let it hang in his right hand by his side, the fight was well and truly leaving him now. His eyes wanted to close for the foreseeable future but then he remembered someone had been hurt before he'd left to catch Mark.

"Tim and Ziva okay?"

"McGee got clipped by a bullet and they are both a little bruised but they will be fine."

Tony glared sceptically at Gibbs for a moment but knew that Gibbs wouldn't lie to him like that. He tried to lead back to the station they had come from, Mark could be collected later, but he put his weight on the wrong leg, his face paled and he dropped the gun that had loosely been in his hand. The next time Tony was aware of anything other than pain radiating throughout his body was when Gibbs was looking worriedly at him and he found himself held up by the older Agent.

"You with me, Tony?" Gibbs knew that something was really wrong now, and really questioned whether he should have let Tony do all he had done. "What wrong with your leg?"

Damn, Tony cursed, he'd kept that little fact a secret from Gibbs all this time.

"Oh, that, ahh...well..." Tony's voice was bordering on becoming breathless just from standing. Gibbs glared and Tony decided to opt for the truth. "One of Mark's friends didn't think I was co-operating enough." Gibbs glared again. "Got stabbed."

"Aww hell, DiNozzo." Gibbs now felt worse for letting his Agent run around trying to catch the bad guy. Gibbs supported Tony's weight and they both moved back towards the station.

"Don't even think about trying to get out of going to the hospital." Gibbs spoke before Tony could complain.

Tony looked indignant, as if he would try that.

Tony chatted, if a little breathlessly, about which ever film came to mind on the way back to their team.

Gibbs just smiled and knew that it would take time, but everything would right itself once again.

**The End**

_Well...that__'s it, the end of this little story. Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. _


End file.
